Thursday, July 21, 2016

Not so Mellow Yellow in Maryland

Sunday was yet another day of blasting heat walloping me every time I stepped out of the door, the humidity so wet and heavy that I was soaked within minutes. I was meeting Emily and Richard late afternoon to photograph the River Road sunflowers at sunset. I wore jeans and boots to try and ward off those dratted mosquitoes and ensured I had the bug wipes ready. But even in the pub where we had dinner first, there were flies buzzing around; it was just going to be an evening of insect infestation...
After driving from field to field we finally settled on one that didn't have too many people in it, then set up tripods in readiness for those wonderful low light images that we were sure to capture. But even though I had fully prepared for the bugs, they still came. We were all dripping from the steamy humidity and my finger kept slipping off of the shutter button. I had wiped every surface of exposed skin with the bug wipes and my face was stinging from the Deet but because of the perspiration diluting my chemical skin defense those blighters still buzzed and bit, evidently relishing my group O blood that was now laced with beer. I was a veritable feast for those crafty critters and they found every tiny minuscule spot that I'd sadly neglected to wipe. The bite just above my left eyebrow, yes, well played, well played. I've been scratching and rubbing my arms and cheeks for days, carefully because on my face I don't want to break the skin.
So while standing in the middle of a field, sweating profusely and being intimidated by buzzing blighters, I found it extremely difficult to rustle up any mood of creativity, which was particularly annoying as I'd been looking forward to this shoot. So I pointed the camera around, and up and down, clicked a few times, waved my flashlight around in a futile attempt at light painting and swatted furiously. I really wasn't expecting any half decent results but had to admit as we walked back to the car, scratching and scraping my arms and neck, that we had once again managed to have a good time, interjecting the air with snippets of funny jibes and laughter in between the sound of palms clapping together as a pestiferous pest was gleefully crushed.
The following day I looked dejectedly at my images but with some heavy Photoshop processing I did manage to salvage a few. I didn't get any beautiful magentas, mango or peachy hues from the sunset, but I shall try harder at that next time, so now I have another reason to return. And next time I'll be in a Haztec suit.